[Guide] Watch Afreeca SC/BW streams with VLC

If you installed VLC to a custom folder, you will have to edit the .bat file and add the path to the set vlcpath= line. Open the .bat file with a text editor (Notepad++ is recommended, although Notepad will do fine) and follow the instructions near the top of the file.

Example: If you installed VLC to D:\VLC, you would need to set the line to

set vlcpath=D:\VLC\vlc.exe

A:
Streamlink does technically work with MPC, but you'll need to mess with the .bat file a bit. More on that in a bit.

I haven't added native support for MPC because 1) extra work for me, and 2) some command lines are missing. Most notably --file-caching and --network-caching don't work, but you also can't add a meta title to an MPC window. When VLC pops up, it properly titles the window with the name you input, i.e. Bisu, Stork, Flash. MPC can't do that, so the window title remains something generic like "stdin".

Anyway, to use this setup in MPC you need the following:
- At least version 1.7 of MPC (1.6 or below will give file not found errors)
- Edit the bat file with the following values:

Open the .bat file in notepad++ or notepad. Near the top of the file you'll see this line:

set vlcpath=

...which by default is blank. Type in the path to your MPC player, i.e.

set vlcpath=C:\Program Files\MPC-HC\mpc-hc64.exe

Next, scroll down to the bottom of the .bat file and find the following line:

start /B streamlink --loglevel=error --player="%vlcpath% --file-caching=5000 --network-caching=5000 --meta-title=%name%" %url%/%id% %output%

Change this line to:

start /B streamlink --loglevel=error --player="%vlcpath%" %url%/%id% %output%

...which removes the "--file-caching=5000 --network-caching=5000 --meta-title=%name%" bit since MPC can't use those.

This worked on my system just fine.

Edit: If there is sufficient interest, I can make it so the .bat file accepts MPC by default as an option when you launch it. Let me know if this is something anyone else wants, otherwise I'm sticking with the basic VLC setup.

A: That's normal. It usually takes 5 - 30 seconds for me to connect.

A: No, Streamlink cannot be used to watch VODs on Afreeca.

A: They're also on Pastebin. Grab them from here (go to the link and click "download" on Pastebin):

https://pastebin.com/ZYFXe76a - afreeca.py
https://pastebin.com/Z6T9YpB2 - starcraft_stream_viewer.bat

TL user prech also uploaded afreeca.py to TeamLiquid (right-click and save link as)

A: If for some reason the .bat file appears messed up on your system (looking something like this as opposed to this), you may be on an outdated operating system. Streamlink requires Windows Vista SP2 or above (the guide has been tested and confirmed working on Windows 7, 8, and 10).

A: Possibly. I haven't needed to do this myself, but according to the guide on defiler.ru you can try the following:

Start -> Run "cmd.exe"
In the command line interface, type the following:



nslookup chromecast.afreeca.gscdn.com


Copy the IP address response, and add it to your hosts file. (See below for instructions.)

This IP address randomizes every once in a while as Afreeca hosts from different servers. If you experience stream lag, you may want to do a quick nslookup and add the new IP address to the hosts file.

How to add something to your hosts file

Google the path to your hosts file if you need to. On Windows 7/8/10 it is:
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\

Right-click your hosts file, and uncheck read-only / write-protect.

Edit the hosts file using notepad or notepad++.

Add the IP address you received from the nslookup command, followed by "chromecast.afreeca.gscdn.com", to the bottom of the hosts file. Example:



121.156.109.165 chromecast.afreeca.gscdn.com


Save the hosts file, and re-enable write-protect / read-only mode. It should look like this:

A: Remove any Afreeca IPs from the hosts file (see above).

A: Close the VLC window and type in the name again. This happens some times in embedded streams when watching Afreeca, possibly due to CDN or ad-service problems.

A: You haven't installed Streamlink properly. The .bat file requires you to install it using the Windows installer, which (among other things) adds Streamlink as a PATH variable so the .bat file can launch it properly.

A: VLC is not installed, or VLC is not installed to the default directory, or you forgot to edit the .bat file to point Streamlink to the proper VLC directory. See the installation instructions again for details.

A: You didn't properly copy and replace the afreeca.py file linked in the OP, meaning you either skipped this step or it failed to overwrite properly. Browsers do not have permission to overwrite files in C:\Program Files, so you have to do it manually.

A: You probably didn't properly copy and replace the afreeca.py file linked in the OP, meaning you either skipped this step or it failed to overwrite properly. Browsers do not have permission to overwrite files in C:\Program Files, so you have to do it manually.

A: Turn off your antivirus; it may be aggressively throttling your Streamlink connection.

A: TeamLiquid only refreshes the sidebar periodically. The player may have just gone offline. Check https://bwstreams.appspot.com/ to see who is currently live and try another player.

A: Some streamers (Horang2 does this some times) will occasionally set their streams to adults-only (19+) mode. When a stream is in adults-only mode, you have to use the Korean AfreecaTV Player (proprietary software) to view it, or Afreeca will refuse your connection. Either petition Horang2 to stop doing that, or find someone else to watch.

A: Livestreamer is no longer being actively worked on, so any time the API changes or a plugin somehow breaks, there is no immediate fix. Afreeca keeps changing their API every few months to the frustration of everyone, and I finally got tired of updating the hls.py and afreecatv.py files.

Streamlink is the current replacement for Livestreamer. It has additional quality options which are easy to find, options for CDN servers, and is generally updated very frequently. I have created a new .bat file to make use of these options.

RoX.Malki still deserves credit for his original Livestreamer guide which formed the basis for this entire guide. His effort has given us months of watching Afreeca without lag. In that spirit, I'll try to keep things updated as best I can.